My simple pleasure...smelling home grown mint

Smelling home grown mint from our herb garden is an ultimate simple pleasure of mine. As I potter around our courtyard garden checking how everything is growing, without fail I'm drawn towards our containers that are the home to our herb garden. I bend down to smell the mint, pick a sprig, place it on my palm and I slap my hands together...a waft of mint fills the air.

I love it when summer arrives, the mint springs into life and I can finally use freshly cut mint in summer drinks and for cooking. I love adding a small sprig of mint to summer drinks, my favourites are when it is combined with elderflower. Drinking a glass of elderflower cordial with ice and a big sprig of mint, or a refreshing glass of elderflower gin and tonic with mint are my favourites. The delicious combination of summer sunshine, mint and elderflower is heavenly.

I am currently growing three types of mint, Garden mint, Moroccan mint and Basil mint, altogether in the same container. Each year the mint grows more prolific delivering an ever increasingly large crop of leaves for us to enjoy. But the season of mint doesn't last long enough as it begins to die back in autumn.

So as we say a fond farewell to the warm weather and the summer over the next few weeks I will be making the most of having fresh home grown mint in our garden and getting a fix of one of my simple pleasures.